Sketchbook: Model Sheet - Cheshire

Pencil, Sketch N' Wash, & non-photo blue pencil on Bristol board

I rarely rely on one source of inspiration. Ideas and images mix in my head like colored inks, sometimes swirling, sometimes forming entirely new hues. I might hang onto a character or a concept for years before I find a way to use it.

Cheshire was born in 2003, in the midst of a long, boring road trip back from GenCon. My friends and I were starting a new World of Darkness campaign, and I had read a story from that universe about a hermaphrodite werewolf. I wanted to play a really weird character, so it seemed to fit. With Legolas and Lucius Malfoy gracing the movie screens, as well as a lot of anime-loving friends, I had an ample supply of androgynous visual models.

I spent a year playing Cheshire as a flamboyant romantic with a major trickster streak. That winter, I started thinking about a webcomic, and realized she would fit right in. In the game, Chesh was raised by his grandfather. In the comic, the Undertaker assumes the same role...and then dies. Cheshire had to grow up. At heart, she's still a bon vivant who enjoys challenging the status quo. But now that he has to look after the Castle and its inhabitants, Cheshire lets common sense and restraint prevail more often than not, especially when Ferkus, Dzeriel, and Alyssa wreak havoc.

I hope I'll be able to adequately show both sides of Cheshire as the story unfolds. It's fun having a straight man who's anything but.

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